"Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition" for Xbox One, Dec. 1-31

United Front Games

"Sleeping Dogs" is a criminally underrated "Grand Theft Auto" style open-world action game. You play as Wei Shen, who has to live a double life as an undercover cop investigating organized crime in the seedy underbelly of Hong Kong.

A fun story with memorable characters will propel you through the game, which also has excellent melee combat and plenty of mayhem to cause in the game's virtual Hong Kong.

2/

"Outlast" for Xbox One, Dec. 16-Jan.15

Red Barrels

"Outlast" is a first-person horror romp through an ethically dubious mental asylum. You'll hide and run away from enemies in dark, murky corridors in one of the scariest games of the past few years.

3/

"Outland" for Xbox One and Xbox 360, Dec. 1-15

Housemarque

"Outland" was vastly underrated when it came out in 2011. It's a side-scrolling adventure game where you navigate a large open world, unlocking new abilities that let you access new areas.

Its main gimmick was a color-switching system where players pressed a button to switch from blue to red. You can absorb projectiles of the same color, while you're hurt by projectiles of the other color. This leads to plenty of perilous platforming sequences and boss fights, where you need to switch at a moment's notice.

4/

"Burnout Paradise" for Xbox One and Xbox 360, Dec. 16-31

EA

Finally, one of the greatest racing games of all time will be free for the second half of December. "Burnout Paradise" takes the high-speed, high-risk drifting action of the "Burnout" series into the open world of Paradise City.

That means you can reach the finish line using any route you want. If you know a better shortcut than what the in-game GPS shows you, nothing is stopping you from using it. The seamless online multiplayer was legitimately groundbreaking at the time, and thanks to this deal, there might actually be people playing it in December.